S.C. Congressional candidate doesn't live in the district he's running to represent

Matthew Christian, Aiken Standard, S.C.
·1 min read

Aug. 15—A man seeking to represent South Carolina's Second Congressional District doesn't live there.

Judd Larkins, the Democratic nominee facing Republican incumbent Joe Wilson in November in the Second District, confirmed Monday morning that his home is located in the Sixth Congressional District.

The Second District includes Aiken, Barnwell and western Orangeburg counties and most of the suburbs surrounding Columbia. Wilson has represented the district since 2001.

The Sixth District includes most of the city of Columbia and a large portion of the inland eastern areas of the state. It has been represented by House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn since 1993.

The U.S. Constitution does not require members of the House of Representatives to live in the district they represent. It does, however, require that members live in the state of the district that they represent.

The Washington Post reported in 2017 that around 30 members of the House of Representatives didn't live in the district they represent.

Property tax records and voter registration records say Larkins lives in an eastern part of the city of Columbia, around half a mile from the Sixth District's boundary with the Second District. Property tax records indicate that he and his wife, Leslie, purchased their home last year — the deed was recorded on June 29, 2021 — for around $370,000.

Larkins added that he was hopeful his neighborhood would be redrawn into the Second District when a lawsuit challenging the state's congressional districts is resolved. Larkins added that his neighborhood had moved between the districts several times during the state's redistricting process.

He said if he wins and the district's boundaries don't change, he will move into the district even though he's not required to do so.